What I liked
The performances, from top to bottom, are exceptional. Fabianne Meyer and Chloe Dworkin deliver comedic tour-de-forces as the two elder sisters in the family. Their comedic timing never misses a beat, and I would have been fine watching an entire show of just their characters talking about random things. Luke Forbes delivers excellent supporting work, but the entire cast is to be commended for finding a tone, as a group, and sticking with it. This is a show that knows what is is, from Lucy Gillespie’s brilliant script, with a finale that feels as close to something Chekhov would have written today as anything I’ve ever seen.
What I didn't like
The scene changes were a bit unclear to me and I didn’t really understand the necessity for all of them, but that is a small quibble with a show that is one of the wildest, funniest, most engaging Fringe shows I’ve ever seen.
My overall impression
I went into this with limited expectations. Firstly, I am NOT a Chekhov fan. I don’t doubt his genius, but his writing has never made much of an impact on me. Secondly, I am NOT a Kardashian fan in any way, shape, or form. So, as I sauntered into the McCadden Theatre at 11:45pm for a midnight performance of a show that combined the two, I did so with the knowledge that I might be setting myself up for disappointment. Fortunately, nothing could have been further from the truth. KEEPING UP WITH THE PROZOROVS is a clever, ingenuous, altogether uproarious twist on the classic Chekhovian text, that modernizes the ups and downs of this family in a way that seems entirely honest even though the hysterics are, at times, ludicrous. This show is a perfect introduction into the world of Chekhov for people who maybe feel like the traditional text would be over their heads.
